Starting Over
by Starring Piper
Summary: Piper goes back to the manor to rebuild the bonds with her sisters while still grieving for Leo and the baby. Complete
1. Going Home

A/N:  Well, the sequel is finally here! I told you I'd get the first chapter out today! Now, I got a lot of complaints over how I did the ending…so I redid most of chapter 15. I never intended to make it seem like Piper didn't grieve for Leo and her baby. I also included more grief over that in here…so I hope this makes things a little more believable. Anyway, go and re-read chapter 15 in Trust, review, and tell me what you think. Review this to, of course! Enjoy!

An hour after meeting her sisters in P3, Piper and Prue pulled up in front of the manor. Paige and Phoebe had already come home a while ago, but Piper had some stuff that she needed to finish in the club, and needed a little more time to prepare herself emotionally for coming home. Glancing across the car at Piper, she noticed that her sister's face was even more pale and drawn than usual. Piper was shaking slightly, and looked terrified. Leaning over, Prue reached out and pulled Piper into a big hug.

            "I-I don't think I can do this Prue. I'm not ready. I can't confide in them…tell them about Leo. Please don't make me go back." Piper's eyes filled with tears as she looked pleadingly at her big sister.

            "You know that I can barely handle breathing right now, the only reason I was able to go back to work at the club was because it provided the smallest of distractions from what I've been feeling.  They're going to notice the fact that I keep bursting into tears every five minutes, and I'm not ready to tell them why yet. It's too hard. I know that I probably sound melodramatic and selfish, but it seems like adding on another emotional burden right now is too much.  I should just go back to the hotel and forget about all of this."

            "Hey." Prue lifted Piper's chin so that she was forced to look her in the eye. "You can do this, all right? I know that it seems hard, but I'm going to be there for you all the time. You aren't going through this alone, all right? And you don't have to tell them what happened yet. Just tell them you're not ready. They'll accept that, I promise you. However, if you still feel like its all too much for you right now, just say the word, and we'll go back to the hotel. They'll understand, and so will I. But I think that you can do this. What do you say? Shall we give it a shot?" Piper sniffed, and wiped away the tears in her eyes.

            "You're right. Let's go in now." After climbing out of the car, Prue wrapped her arms around Piper's shoulders, and the two entered the manor. 

Paige and Phoebe were sitting in the kitchen, sipping cups of tea. Two more cups sat on the counter. Seeing Piper and Prue walk in, Phoebe smiled warmly.

            "Hey," she said, "you're here." Getting up, she walked over to Piper to envelope her in a hug. Piper, however flinched away and crossed over to the other side of the kitchen.

            "Don't." She pleaded softly. "Please. Not yet. I can't…handle it quite yet, ok?" her voice was shaking slightly, and tears had gathered in her eyes again. Prue could see that there was nothing that Piper wanted more than to accept her sisters embrace, but she wouldn't let herself. Though Prue understood why, she wished that Piper would just let go. She needed her sisters' support right now, all of her sisters' support. But Piper wasn't ready to open up to the again. If she let them in, and they hurt her again like they did before…there was no way she was going to survive that. Prue shuddered thinking about how Piper had barely survived losing Leo and her baby. If it had been up to Piper, she wouldn't have survived. If given the choice, Piper would probably still choose death, a fact that scared Prue beyond belief.

            Nodding, Phoebe summoned a smile for Piper. "Sure," she said, refusing to let how much Piper's comment hurt her show. "Sorry. There's tea on the counter for you and your friend." Inside, Phoebe was silently berating herself. She was beginning to wonder if she and Paige would ever fully realize the impact of what they had done to their big sister. For such a touchy-feely kind of family, where hugging each other was as natural as breathing, Piper's refusal of a hug went far beyond anything she might say to show Paige and Phoebe just how much she had been hurt. Phoebe watched as Piper's friend walked over and squeezed her shoulder. _I wonder how they met_, she thought. _They seem so close…as if Piper's known her for her whole life. But I've never once seen her before, so that's not possible. And yet, at the same time, there's something really familiar about her, about the way she acts. I feel like I do know her. Even though I know I don't._ Phoebe shook her head, trying to clear it. Her thoughts were starting to get so confusing that she couldn't even follow them anymore. 

            Prue looked at Piper worriedly. It had been an extremely emotional day for her sister…she was obviously exhausted, though Piper would never admit it. 

            "Look," she said, "it's been a long day, ok? I think that Piper should go lie down for a little while." Piper sighed. 

            "Prue…"

            "No buts. You need to rest, sweetie." Sighing again, Piper nodded, defeated.

            "Fine." 

            "Come on. I'll go get you settled." Nodding unenthusiastically, Piper followed her sister up the stairs. After they left, Paige raised her eyebrows at Phoebe.

            "They certainly seem to know each other very well. How does she know where Piper's room is?"

            "You've got me. They're whole relationship has me completely confused. They are completely comfortable with each other, but Piper would never become that comfortable with a total stranger. But I've never seen her before in my life, so they have to have just met. The whole thing is giving me a headache." Paige glanced down at her cup of tea, then looked back up at Phoebe, her eyes troubled.

            "We really hurt her, didn't we." Sighing, Phoebe nodded.

            "Yeah, we did. More than I think we can even begin to comprehend."

            Prue walked into Piper's room, and tossed back the covers on the bed. 

            "Come on, get in. You can finish your tea sitting in bed. Then I want you to go to sleep for awile." Turning, Prue noticed that Piper was still standing in the doorway, shaking. 

            "Piper?" She questioned. Piper stared into the room, tears spilling down her face. A jacket of Leo's lay across the bed, a picture of the two of them was propped on the nightstand. The pictures from the baby's first ultrasound lay on the dresser.

            "Why did they take them away from me?" Piper whispered. "After everything we went to be together, why did they have to take it all away? We were so happy, finally…the happiest we'd been in a long time. I was finally learning to live without you, we had a baby girl on the way…what did we do to make them take it all away? Why couldn't they at least have let me die too? Why do I have to stay here without them?" Piper's voice broke, and she broke down sobbing. Prue cursed herself…Piper's first day back at the manor, she probably should have had her sleep on the couch or something. In here…everything would remind her of Leo. Walking over to Piper, she held guided her to the bed, sat down, and held her little sister as she cried, gently rocking her back and forth. 

            "Oh honey, I'm so sorry." She said, when Piper finally began to calm down. "I should have realized this would be too much. Do you want to go rest on the couch? I'd offer you my room, but…"

            "It's not really yours anymore. It's okay. I understand."

            "I'm sure Paige or Phoebe would let you stay in their rooms if you wanted." Piper shook her head.

            "No…I think I want to stay here. It hurts, but…at least I feel a little connected to him, you know? I haven't been able to feel him at all lately, and that hurts almost as much as losing him. Now I can smell him, feel him again…I think I need that right now." Piper's voice broke again, and the tears started to fall again as well.

            "Ok. As long as you feel up to it." Helping Piper lie down, Prue rubbed her sister's back until she had once more cried herself to sleep. 

            


	2. Answering Questions

A/N here's chapter two! I got like, no reviews for the last chapter, so hurry up and give them to me! Or I'll have no reason to keep writing….hope you all like it so far….I'll go work on Believe in Me now. Enjoy. And don't forget to review! And hey, Charmed Writer…when's your next chapter coming out…I need more!

Disclaimer: I forgot to say this at the beginning, so I'll say it now and get it over with. Charmed is not mine. None of the characters featured here belong to me. (unless I add some random people, which I don't think I will.) Charmed is the property of spelling and the WB. This goes for my entire story, so I'm not going to say it again. 

Prue continued to stroke her sister's back until Piper's breathing finally became more regular. Sighing, Prue looked down at her compassionately.

            "Oh Piper," she murmered, "how are you going to get past this if you don't let them in to help you?"

 Just then, Prue heard a knock on the door. Looking up, she saw Paige and Phoebe lounging in the doorway. 

            "Hey." Phoebe said. "Is she ok? How's she doing?"

            "She's been better. But she's also been worse, a lot worse, so I guess she's doing all right. She just really needs to rest right now. Today's been really stressful for her."

            "Look…" Paige began, "we need to talk. With you. There are a lot of questions that you need to answer if your going to stay here." Prue sighed.

            "I'll do what I can but…there's a lot of questions that I just can't answer yet. I want to but…some of it is Piper's place to tell you, not mine, and you need to wait until she is ready." Paige nodded. 

            "Fair enough. Why don't you come down into the solarium. We can talk there, without worrying about waking Piper up." Nodding, Prue kissed Piper on the forehead, then walked out past them and down into the solarium. Paige and Phoebe followed her, bemused.

            "Question number one." Phoebe said. "Who are you? And how the hell do you know your way around our house so well?" Prue smiled sardonically.

            "Couldn't you at least have started with a question I can answer? Oh well, I'll just do the best I can. I can't really tell you who I am, but let's just say that I know you-and this house-a lot better than you think. I'm not exactly who I appear to be but…you can trust me. I promise you that I will do nothing to hurt you, and everything I possibly can to keep Piper from being hurt any more than she already has."

            "Why are you here? How long have you been here?" Paige asked. At least that was an easy enough question to answer without really giving anything away.

            "The elders sent me down to take care of Piper. I came down around five months ago."

            "What happened to her after saving Paige form Cole?" Phoebe asked, her voice full of pain. "I mean, its obvious she's not pregnant anymore. And why havn't we seen Leo around? She's so upset…I know what we did hurt her, a lot, but there's more to it then that. What else is going on?"

            "I'm afraid that's Piper's story to tell you, not mine. She will tell you, eventually, but it may take a while. You guys really hurt her, and that's not something she can get over easily. She's not ready to open up to you guys again. Just please, be caring and supportive, and don't do anything that might upset her. She's really…fragile…right now. I don't know if I did the right thing in bringing her back yet- if you guys hurt her again she won't be able to get past it. She has too much on her plate. But she needs your support if she's ever really going to heal. So please, don't ask to much of her. Just be there for her when she needs you, ok?" They nodded. 

            "How long are you here for?"

            "I don't really know. I wish I could be here for good, but I think they're going to bring me back once Piper is doing a lot better. Hopefully I can get them to change their minds, but…I just don't know." Paige nodded.

            "I guess that's it for now then…thanks for warning us about Piper. We won't hurt her, I promise." Prue smiled.

            "Look you too, one more thing…you might start to have suspicions about who I am sooner or later, maybe you already do. If so, please don't ask me about them. You'll find out soon enough, but I can't confirm anything until later, ok?" They nodded again. 

            "I'm going to go back upstairs now. I want to be there when Piper wakes up. 

            "Should we come?" Phoebe asked.

            "Not just yet. But if you could maybe make her some soup or something that would be great. She'll say she's not hungry, but she needs to eat, even if she doesn't want to. She needs all the strength she can get right now." Phoebe smiled.

            "Will do. Piper said your name was Prue, right?" Prue nodded.

            "Well,…Prue, when she wakes up, tell her I love her, ok? She won't take it form me right now, but she needs to know. Maybe of you tell her, she'll listen." Paige nodded.

            "Yeah, tell her I love her too, and if she needs anything…." Paige let her voice trail off. Prue smiled at both of them.

            "I will. Come up with the soup in about an hour. She'll probably be awake by then." The two nodded, and Prue headed back upstairs to be with Piper. 


	3. Movie Night

Piper woke up slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Prue sat on the bed next to her, reading a book. Noticing that Piper was waking up, she looked up and smiled.

            "Hey." She said softly. "Did you sleep well? How do you feel?"

            "All right. A little overwhelmed, still. But being back here…it does help. Even if it hurts at the same time."

            "I know that it's hard to believe right now, but it will get easier."

            "I know. It already has, a little. I know that after I lost you, I finally reached a point where I could live my life again, even if I felt like that wasn't possible. But still…I never really completely got over your death. I don't think that I ever would have. So I…don't think that I'll ever really be able to get over this." Prue leaned over and hugged Piper. 

            "I'm so sorry honey." She whispered. "Look, Paige and Phoebe are downstairs making you something to eat." 

            "I'm not hungry."

            "You have to eat Piper. You know that. They said to tell you they love you."

            "Prue…"

            "I know you think you're not ready to go into all of that yet, but you need to know it. They're really worried about you. You know that you have to let them in eventually, right?"

            "Yes." Piper whispered. "Just…not yet, okay? Please Prue, don't make me do it yet."

            "I won't 'make' you do anything. Whenever your ready is fine. But you may be ready sooner than you think. You can't really get better until you talk to them." Piper nodded and toyed with the blankets. Just then, she heard a knock on the door, and Paige and Phoebe entered, carrying a tray.

            "Hey." Phoebe said. "You been awake long?" Piper shook her head.

            "Just a few minutes."

            "Then our timing is very good." Phoebe smiled, and lay the tray on the bed, across Piper's lap.

            "We made you some toast and soup, and a little more tea. I know you're the chef in the family, but hopefully this is edible." Piper nodded, her face emotionless.

            "Thanks." She picked listlessly at the soup and toast, toying with the food rather than eating it."

            "Piper…." Prue admonished gently.

            "Sorry." She replied. She wasn't really hungry…she hadn't felt like eating since this first began. The thought and smell of food repulsed her, but Prue made her eat. Her first day home, Piper had refused to eat anything, no matter how much Prue begged and pleaded with her. Prue had finally cast a spell on her to make her unresisting, then spoon fed Piper herself, forcing her to eat a meal. After that, Piper ate when Prue told her too, though she still resisted as much as possible. After she had forced down enough to satisfy Prue, Paige moved the tray and placed it on Piper's end table.

            "Sleep well."

            "Yeah, fine." Piper's voice was toneless, revealing no emotion. Prue sighed. How long was it going to take her to trust them again. Then she mentally slapped herself. Paige and Phoebe had hurt Piper beyond belief. It was going to take time for her to trust them again. She needed to try and be more patient, no matter how hard it was to see her sister in so much pain. 

            "So," Prue began, adding as much false cheer in her voice as she could muster, "I was thinking…why don't we have a nice relaxing afternoon today…I figured we could rent a couple movies, just stay here today. Maybe Piper could cook us one of her famous dinners tonight…what do you say? Are you up to that, honey?" Piper shrugged.

            "Whatever you want. I don't care." Prue grinned.

            "Great!" Why don't you and Phoebe go pick out some movies, and Paige and I will stay here and get some popcorn ready and stuff." At that sentence, Piper's head flew up, and she stared into Prue's eyes, terrified.

            "D-Don't you guys want to come pick out movies too? Are you sure you just want to send us too?" Piper was terrified at the idea of spending time alone with Phoebe, without Prue there for support. Phoebe cringed at the terror in Piper's voice. How could she have ever hurt her sister so badly? Especially Piper, who had always been there for her, always supported her. Prue, however, kept right on smiling, and nodded her head. 

            "I'm sure whatever you guys pick will be fine. Now go on. We'll be here when you get back.  Shaking slightly, Piper climbed out of bed. 

            "Let me just brush my teeth." She said quietly to Phoebe. "I'll be there in a sec." Phoebe nodded, and mustered a smile. 

            "I'll go down and get the car started."

            Two minutes later, Piper arrived downstairs and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Pulling on her seat belt, she looked anywhere but at Phoebe. She was obviously nervous, and Phoebe tried to smile reassuringly. Pulling the car onto the street, she glanced at Piper.

            "What kind of movies are you in the mood for. I'm up for anything, so you just say the word."

            "I don't care. Whatever you want is fine." Piper's voice was almost inaudible.

            "Don't care at all? So should we get a nice horror film?" Phoebe asked teasingly.

            "Sure." Piper said quickly. "Whatever you want." Phoebe looked surprised.

            "But you hate horror films."

            "I want whatever you want. Really." Phoebe looked at her sister, worried. Obviously Piper was scared that if her opinion differed even slightly from Phoebe's, Phoebe would get mad at her again. Heart aching for her big sister, Phoebe pulled into a parking spot in front of Blockbuster. 

            "We'll just see what they have." She said. 

            Inside, Piper trailed after Phoebe, not looking at anything herself. Phoebe, thinking of Piper's favorite genre, headed over to the romantic comedy section. Picking up one of Piper's old favorites, she handed the box to her sister.

            "How's this?" Phoebe asked. Piper glanced at the box. Her heart wrenched as she saw the title, and she bit her lip hard to fight back the tears that were threatening to overflow. It was the first movie that she and Leo had ever gone to see together. Watching it without him now would be…brutal. But if Phoebe wanted it, there was no way that she was going to go against her sister. Seeing the look on Piper's face, Phoebe took the box back.

            "On second thought, maybe I'm not in the mood for a romantic comedy after all." Instead, Phoebe selected a few plain comedies. Mindless, plot less, the sort of thing that made you laugh just because it was so incredibly stupid. But they were light and easy, just the sort of thing they needed right now. Going up to the counter, Phoebe paid for the movies, and she and Piper headed back home.

Back at the manor, Paige glanced at Prue.

            "Are you sure that was a good idea? She asked. "Piper seemed pretty scared."

            "Piper needs to learn that she can trust you guys again sooner or later. At least maybe now she'll find out that you don't bite. I don't know how long the elders are going to let me stay…so I need to make her comfortable being alone with you guys as soon as possible. Even if she isn't ready to confide in you…she at least needs to be able to hang out with you." Paige nodded. That made sense, even if it hurt a little to hear. _Not as much as Piper's hurting right now_. She told herself. The front door opened, and Piper and Phoebe walked in. 

            "Hey!" Phoebe called out as she entered the hall. "We're back!" Her face looked strained, tired. Piper entered behind her. She too, looked drained. Prue wondered if anything had happened between them. It would be nice if they had talked some things out, but she doubted that had happened. Walking over to them, she squeezed Piper's hand. Piper looked up and forced a smile. The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventfully. They enjoyed the movies, even if there was an undercurrent of strain going on the whole time. Piper even smiled slightly at a few of the jokes, though she never laughed. Finally, all of the movies ended, and the girls decided it was time to turn in. Piper turned to Prue.

            "Look, I guess that you can either sleep on my floor or on the couch. The couch is probably more comfortable."

            "If you want me in with you the floor is fine." Piper looked at her for a while, then shook her head, reluctantly.

            "No, it's ok. You'll be more comfortable down here. I'll be fine by myself. Its something I need to get used to anyway." She was right, but Prue still wanted to be there for her if she needed her.

            "Are you sure?" 

            "Positive. I'll go get some blankets and stuff and we can make up the couch here." After helping Prue set up the couch, Piper went upstairs into her own room, and shut the door. Once she was sure she was alone, she let herself collapse onto the bed, body shaking, tears pouring down her face. The events of the day had exhausted her beyond belief…even after her earlier nap and emotional release. She knew that Prue was worried about her, and was trying to downplay her emotions as much as possible. Prue had already done so much for her, Piper felt guilty asking for more. Reaching out, Piper pulled Leo's jacket to her, and hugged it as she cried. Clutching it close to her, Piper breathed in her husband's scent. Her tears soaked the jacket, and she curled up in a ball on the bed, letting the sound of her own sobs lull her to sleep.


	4. Omlets

A/N: Sorry its been so long guys. I've been away again, then I had some computer troubles. But its here now. Sorry its so short. I kinda have writers block, but I wanted to give you guys something as soon as my computer started working again. And you know, by leaving it alone for so long I got lots more reviews…maybe I should do that more often. Unless you send lots of reviews quickly, so I decide I don't need to…lol. 

Charmed Writer: I updated. Now where's my cookie?

Piper didn't come downstairs until late the next morning. She had been exhausted the night before, and after crying herself to sleep she had slept like someone drugged. However, all of the crying seemed to amount to some good, because Piper felt better today than she had in ages. She didn't feel good, exactly, but better than she had been feeling. Knowing that she would probably crash later on in the day, Piper wanted to take advantage of feeling good now.  Also, after yesterday, she was feeling more comfortable around her sisters. The way they treated her last night was finally helping her realize that they had no intention of hurting her again, and she didn't have to be so inhibited around them. If anything, she had gotten the impression that they would like for her to let go a little.  Unbeknownst to Piper, Prue had come in to check on her several times that morning, making sure that she was still ok. When Piper arrived in the kitchen, she found the three sipping coffee and munching on cereal. She smiled slightly.

            "Don't tell me that this is all you guys have had to eat for breakfast while I've been gone." She said, attempting a small joke. Phoebe grinned delightedly.

            "Well, you know that you're the best chef in the world, and we just couldn't imagine trying to fill your shoes…" Phoebe said in her baby voice. Piper gave another slight smile, and walked over to pick up a pan. 

            "Well, then, you're lucky I'm back. How do omelets sound?" Paige and Phoebe practically drooled, thinking of how much they had missed Piper's cooking. 

            "That sounds terrific." Paige said. Piper began to cook, and soon the delicious aroma began wafting through the air. After she had finished, Piper slipped an omelet onto each plate, and lay one down in front of each of her sisters. Paige and Phoebe dove in, Prue was a little more restrained. 

            "Oh my god this is so good." Phoebe moaned. "Dinner, last night, was amazing by the way, if I didn't mention it before." She had. All through the night Paige and Phoebe could not stop commenting on how delicious everything had been."

            "Seriously." Paige agreed. "I mean, I knew your cooking was good, but even I didn't remember just how good." Suddenly Prue glanced up, startled. 

            "The elders need to tell me something. I'll be right back. I promise." Piper watched, scared, as Prue disappeared in a flash of light.    


	5. She's back

A/N: Once again, I've been failing to update…sorry guys. I'll try to get back on a once a day schedule, I promise. But for now, here's another update, which I hope you like. The big talk is coming up soon…you better review so I feel like writing it! And hey, do I get another cookie for this chapter? lol 

Prue stared angrily at the elders.

"Look, I know that you need to talk to me, but a little more warning would have been nice you know! Piper is down there freaking out, she probably thinks I'm never coming back or something."

"You told her you would." One elder said icily.

"Yeah, but in case you hadn't noticed, she doesn't exactly believe everything that people tell her these days. Especially if it's a good thing. Bad things she's more willing to believe in." Prue sighed, and ribbed her temples.

"Just make this fast, ok? I want to get back to her before she worries even more." The elders nodded.

"We called you here to talk of your stay on Earth. A you know, you can't stay forever…" Prue bit her lip and looked down at her feet. The elder sighed.

"You knew that going in. There's nothing you can do to change it, so it's a fact that you just have to accept, understand?" Prue nodded, albeit reluctantly. 

"Yes, I know. How much longer do I have?"

"We haven't decided exactly yet, we want to play it by ear. Piper's condition is still very…fragile…as you said, this incident will probably set her back some as far as her recovery goes. As soon as we deem Piper recovered enough, we will be bringing you back. You must not stay on Earth any longer than necessary. We're already straining our resources for you to stay this long." Prue looked upset. 

"So what, you're just going to rip me off of Earth as soon as you think that Piper is the least bit stable?! I hate to break it too you, but if you do it like that she's just going to slip into depression again. You're going to have to give us at least a little warning!" The elders sighed, and considered it for a while. Finally, after a bit of talking amongst themselves, one spoke up.

"We will give a warning time of one hour. No more. And no amount of arguing is going to get you more time." 

"Fine." Prue snapped. "I guess an hour is better than nothing." 

"Good, I'm glad you feel that way. One more thing we will guarantee…we will not summon you back until after Piper tells her other sisters the whole story. We will let you be there for that. However, you cannot share this information with Piper, because then she might never tell them, in hopes that you stay forever."

"About how long after she tells them do I have?"

"We haven't decided yet. Maybe that's it, then you'll get your hour, and come back."

"So by telling them, Piper could be triggering the end of my stay? And you won't tell me that?"

"I'm sorry, but that's all the information we can give you at this time. We will send you back now." Prue was still glaring at them as she was orbed back.

After Prue had left so suddenly, Piper had sat down hard on a chair in the kitchen, shaking uncontrollably. She had not spoken since, but stared off into the distance, looking terrified. Phoebe looked at Paige helplessly, then walked slowly toward Piper.

"Piper? Honey? Everything's going to be ok sweetie…she said that she was coming right back. They wouldn't take her from you like that, without any warning…"

"That's how they took her the first time." Piper's voice was nearly inaudible, and Phoebe stared at her not knowing what to do.

"Piper, please try to calm down…" she said, and lay her hand on Piper's shoulder. Piper flinched, and the glass on the table exploded. 

"Don't touch me." Her voice was low, raw.

"Piper, I just want to help…"

"Then DON'T TOUCH ME!!!!!" Three more glasses exploded, and Piper's voice dropped down to an even murmur. "Someone will just get hurt. You, me, Paige…someone always gets hurt around me. And I'm tired of it." Phoebe shot another helpless glance at Paige, wondering how to get through to her pain filled sister. Piper' head was whirling with thoughts, none of them good. 

_ _

How could they take her away again like that? It was bad enough the first time, I can't live through it a second time…especially without anyone to help me. Paige and Phoebe say they care again, but what if don't? They can't go from hating me so much to loving me again, it doesn't work like that, does it? They don't even know why I'm so upset, that it's our sister who just got ripped away again…oh god, they don't know! If Prue never comes back, then they'll never have gotten to know that she was here, gotten to hang out with her knowing who she really is! Phoebe will never get to talk to her, Paige didn't get to really meet her…it's all my fault, all because I was to selfish to talk to them. Now they didn't get Prue, and there's no one to blame but me! They'll really hate me now…if they really don't anymore, like they're saying, this'll get right back to it! I can't live with that again…not alone…please don't make be alone anymore…I know its all my fault…but I can't take it anymore. I can't. I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't.

That thought continued to resonate through Piper's head when Prue finally orbed in again. Seeing Piper sitting on the chair, shaking, staring of into space, and mumbling "I can't" under her breath, Prue hurried over to her sister.

"Piper?" She said, "it's me, Prue. I'm right here sweetie, I didn't leave. Come on Piper, look at me. Everything's ok, just come back to me, ok?" Slowly, Piper came out of her trance, and her eyes focused on Prue's face.

"Prue?" She asked weakly. "Oh God, I thought that they had taken you away again. And they'd never know who you are, and hate me for it, and I'd be alone again, and its all my fault…its always my fault…" Piper's voice rose to a hysterical pitch, and Prue pulled her close, gently rubbing Piper's back.

"Shhhhh, it's ok, nothing's your fault." When Prue finally had Piper calmed down, she looked at her carefully.

"They told me some stuff about my stay though…you and I need to talk now." Nodding, Piper got up and followed her sister from the room.

After hearing everything that Prue was allowed to tell her, Piper bit her lip. Prue had told Piper everything the elders had told her, including the fact that sharing her story with Paige and Phoebe could end Prue's stay, but excepting the fact the Prue got to definitely stay until that same story had been shared. Finally, Piper spoke.

"We need to tell them who you really are." She said quietly.

"In order to that, you need to share your story first." Piper sighed.

"I know."

"But Piper…sharing your story…it could be the trigger that gets me sent back." Piper sighed again.

"I know that too. But…if I never tell them, they'll just take you back anyway. And then they'll never get to know who you really are. And that's not fair. I can't do that to them. They deserve to know your real identity. But as far as I know…the elders could decide that you need to go back there now. So we need to tell them the truth about who you are right away, so we don't accidentally lose the chance."

"Are you sure your ready?" Piper laughed slightly.

"No. Actually I'm anything but sure. But they deserve to know. So…let's go tell them." Trying not to look as scared as she felt, Piper grabbed Prue's hand, and the two headed back to the kitchen.


	6. Talking

The four sisters assembled themselves on the couch, Paige and Phoebe looking worriedly at Piper. Piper and Prue had decided that Prue would go first, and show them who she really was. It would make Piper's story make more sense, and no awkward questions would come up while Piper was trying to talk. Piper looked at Paige and Phoebe, then started to talk.

"Look, before I tell my story, there's something that you guys need to know. Prue…isn't who she looks like. This is just a disguise." 

"Who is she?" Phoebe asked. Her heart was beating wildly, as she dared to hope it was who she thought it was. Prue smiled at Piper, and let the disguise fall for Paige and Phoebe.

"It's me." She said softly. "Your sister." A very tearful reunion had followed, with lots of crying and hugging. At first Paige hung back, not sure what place she took in this, but Prue refused to let her stay on the sidelines, and pulled her in for her share f hugs. Paige was astounded and touched at easily Prue set her nerves at ease, assuring her that she still belonged in the family.  Finally Phoebe calmed down enough to speak rationally.

"I don't understand. How are you here? Why did the elders finally let you come?" Piper spoke up, from where she was sitting on the far corner on the couch. She had sat apart from the reunion, to worried about what she was going to talk about to take part.

"They sent her here for me." She said quietly.

            "I don't really know where to start with this…I'd go from the beginning but I don't even really know what that is anymore. I guess I'll start from the first time that I noticed something was really wrong, the night that Cole…well, you know. I know it was really the source, but it looked like Cole, so for now, I'm just going to stick to calling him that. And…don't interrupt me, ok? I know that your probably not going to like a lot of what I am going to say, but…if I stop, I don't think that I can start again. You can ask questions when I'm finished." Paige and Phoebe nodded, and Prue squeezed Piper's hand. 

            "This all began about four months ago. I'm sure you remember it Phoebe, it was the night before we had that…conversation." Phoebe winced, remembering the way she had yelled at Piper. "I was working late, trying to finish up some paper work, when Cole came in. Something seemed a little off with him, he was definitely acting weird. So I tried to freeze him but it…it didn't work. He came at me then and that's when he did it." Piper's voice broke. "He raped me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was so helpless…And all I could think about was how much this betrayal would hurt you guys. I felt dirty, filthy, feelings I hadn't had since I was fourteen." Piper couldn't go on, and had to take a few minutes to get herself back under control. When she did go on, her voice was flat and emotionless, as though she were reciting something that happened in a movie, rather than to her.

            "After he finished, he left me lying on the floor, naked. I don't know how long I lay there. I think I threw up once, but I can't really remember. I was in a complete daze, and now everything seems a little fuzzy. I went home to talk to Phoebe but…she didn't believe me. Neither did Paige. The next few months were some of the worst I ever went through. If it weren't for Leo, I honestly wouldn't have survived. He kept me going, forced me to eat when I would have let myself starve. He was the only thing that kept me going, the only thing I had left that still cared for me. He knew how badly I was doing…that's why we moved out. He thought that if I was in a different environment, maybe it would be easier for me to get better. It was a little better away from the manor…the atmosphere wasn't quite as oppressive. He and the baby were all I could let myself think about, or else I'd fall apart even more. Not too long after we rented our own apartment, Cole took Paige. I don't know your side of the story, but when I found out, I was terrified. If he did to you what he did to me…I'd never be able to forgive myself. I'd die before letting that happen to any of you. But I couldn't get myself to go to the underworld to try and save you. My pregnancy was fairly advanced by then, so I couldn't move very well. Also I didn't…I wasn't sure how well I could function, seeing Cole and Phoebe. I was worried that I would freeze up, and I didn't think that Phoebe really wanted me there anyway. So I made the spell that linked me to Paige, and prayed to God that it would work. Luckily it did. I was so relieved by that that I didn't even notice that you started the vanquishing spell against Cole. I'm sorry I ripped myself away so suddenly…I know that must have hurt. But I couldn't let you vanquish Cole, not before I tried stripping his powers first. The Cole in him deserved that chance. When I woke up in the apartment, I could immediately tell that all of my anti-scrying spells were gone. All of the energy was sapped from the connection spell, I didn't have the strength to keep them up anymore. So I got myself to the club as fast as I could…I didn't want you to find it. Even though you knew the truth I didn't know how you'd feel toward me. I guess I thought that you'd still hate me. When you said that you didn't, and you wanted me to come home to the manor…well, forcing myself not to was one of the hardest things ever. I wanted to go running to you for comfort, I desperately wanted my sisters back. But you weren't ready to provide that yet, so I wasn't willing to ask you for it. Leo took me back to the apartment and that's…that's when things really got ugly." At this point Piper stopped again, not sure if she could go on. Talking about Leo's death…well, right now it was still something that she could barely bear to think about, let alone talk about. But she had to. Piper's voice dropped to a pained whisper as she continued. 

            "I fell asleep when we got there, and woke up to find myself being flung into a wall. Leo was unconscious in the corner of the room. I ran over to him, but before I got him, Cole pulled out a darklighter bow and hit him with three arrows. He-he was d-dead before he even woke up." Tears were streaming down Piper's face as she re-lived the pain and terror of that moment. 

"Cole hit me with an arrow too, right in the stomach. It…killed the baby, I could feel something inside of me d-die. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, but then Cole said that he was going to go after P-Paige. I forced myself to get up, get the potion and throw it at him. It worked, and his powers were stripped. He left, and I was alone…all alone…" Prue squeezed Piper's shoulder, and Piper's voice dropped back to its earlier flat emotionless tone.

"I couldn't stand it. I didn't think that you two really cared about me anymore. I had just gotten the one person who did just care about me killed. I didn't think it was possible to hurt that much. I called the club, told them my story about the business trip. That way no one would come looking for me. I took a knife, and slit both of my wrists. All I could think about was ending the pain. In a few minutes, everything would be over. I would be with Leo, Prue, Grams, Mom, and my baby. I blacked out lying next to Leo." Prue took over now, relaying her part of the story. 

"I saw what happened to Piper, and I panicked. I knew that no one would find her in time, that she would die if no one got her to a hospital soon. So I tried to convince the elders to let me go down there. They didn't want to, at first, but finally I wore them down. They knew that if I didn't go they would lose the charmed ones…which I guess they really didn't want to do. So they cast a disguise spell on me, and sent me back to earth. When I found Piper, she was almost gone. I barely got her to the hospital on time. The next few months were spent on healing her, trying to help her get over her losses.

"I wasn't a very easy patient." Piper said softly. "Even with Prue there…I couldn't et over what happened to Leo. I'm still not over it…but I'm slowly learning to live with the pain. Prue was amazing over the next few months. She wouldn't give up on me, wouldn't let me die, no matter how much I wanted to. Slowly, began to get better. I couldn't get rid of the pain, but…I could deal with it, even if it never got any smaller. I hadn't been back to work long when you found me and well, you know the story from there." Paige and Phoebe looked at her, shocked at what they had just heard. 

"Oh Piper," Phoebe sighed. Piper looked up and met their eyes, her own filled with more pain and anguish than they could begin to imagine.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you guys with this…I wanted to tell you but I didn't know if you'd care. And if I opened myself up to you and got hurt again…I couldn't live with that. It's been hard enough without Leo…I miss him so much, I just want him back. Why did I have to lose him to?" Prue sat back watched. She longed to go over and comfort Piper…but right now, it wasn't her comfort that Piper needed. She needed to re-establish her bonds with her other sisters. To Prue's relief, Phoebe walked over to Piper and wrapped her arms around her sister, rocking her as she sobbed. Paige came over as well, stroking Piper's hair. Finally, Piper was able to let herself go into the comfort of her sisters, something she had been longing to do ever since this whole nightmare began.      


	7. Relief

A/N: Sorry it's been so long guys! God, its been over a week…I never meant to wait this long, but I've been having serious writer's block. This chapter is kinda short, but at least it's something.  I hope you liked the last chapter-it wasn't great, but it was the best I could do. I can't really give that kind of scene justice, but oh well. I think this story is winding down, but there are many sequels to come. And I still have a lot of work to do on Believe in Me. Enjoy!

            Piper sat on the couch, huddled in between her two sisters. All four of them had dozed off for a while, but from the noise in the kitchen, it sounded like Prue was already up. Paige and Phoebe were still sleeping though, and Piper snuggled closer to them. She hadn't felt this relaxed or at peace since…well, let's just say it had been a really long time. There was only one thing that could make this day better…a sob rose in Piper's throat as she thought about Leo, and she forced herself to think of something else. She had finally managed to stop crying, and didn't want to start up again. Phoebe noticed Piper staring off into space, and brushed a piece of hair off of Piper's face.

            "I can't believe we treated you like that." Phoebe said softly. "You're my big sister, the one who was always there for me, always believed in me, and I treated you like…like complete shit." Phoebe's voice started to break, and she impatiently brushed tears off of her face.

            "It doesn't matter now. You didn't know, and it's over. We can't change what happened. It doesn't matter."

            "It does matter! I can't even begin to imagine what you went through…how can you not hate us? How did you manage to forgive us?"

            "In my mind, there was nothing to forgive. I never blamed you for what happened, I blamed myself. None of it was your fault. I'm just glad that your talking to me again…" Piper broke off, and Phoebe leaned over and hugged her. 

            "Never again." She breathed. "Never again will I let anything like that happen to you." Piper just nodded, clinging to Phoebe like she never wanted to let go. Finally, she pulled away and looked at her sister. 

            "I've been wondering…how come I haven't seen Cole around at all? It's been a few days, and…it seems like he would have been around more." Phoebe looked surprised.

            "Why would he be around more?"

            "He's your husband! And I stripped his powers form him, so he's not evil anymore…he did come tell you that, right?"

            "Yes, he came and told us that, so we didn't vanquish him…but still, how can I love him, be around him, after what he did to you? What he did to all of us?"

            "But it wasn't him! The evil in the Source possessed him…we already had this conversation!" 

            "I know that it wasn't him, that it wasn't really his fault…but there are things that he could have done to prevent it from happening. If he had just told me that the Source had possessed him in the beginning, then none of this would have happened. If he's going to keep secrets like that from me, then I don't see how I can trust him. Why are you so upset, anyway?"

            "I already told you that too. It's too similar to what happened to me Phoebe. I know that you say that if he had just told you in the beginning, none of this would have happened. But it's always easier to say stuff like that in hindsight. I mean, there's probably millions of things that I could have done to stop this form happening…so does that mean that you can never trust me again?"

            "Of course not!"

            "But it's the exact same thing, Phoebe." Piper sighed wearily. "The exact same. So if you can't ever trust Cole again…I can't help but believe that you can't trust me either. Even if you say otherwise. And its hard to live like that Phoebe…so hard…" Piper stopped talking and let her shoulders sag. Carefully not looking at Phoebe, she toyed with her rings.

            "Just talk to him, ok? I'm not saying you have to jump right back to where you were, but…please, at least do him the courtesy of listening to his side of the story. If you won't do it for him, then do it for me." Taking off the blanket on her lap, Piper got up. "I'm going to go help Prue in the kitchen. Think about what I said." Phoebe watched as Piper walked away, not wanting the conversation to end that way, but also not knowing what to say.

            "So, what are you going to do?" Phoebe jumped, and turned to look at Paige. 

            "I thought you were still asleep."

            "I woke up a couple of minutes ago. Long enough to hear what you and Piper were talking about. Are you going to talk to him?"

            "I don't know. He hurt all of us so much…how can I forgive that?"

            "But Piper wants you to. And after what we did…I think it wouldn't exactly hurt to grant a few of her wishes. We owe her that, at least."

            "Yeah." Phoebe sighed. "I know."


	8. Guilt

A/N: Here it is at last! And it's even kind of long! This may be the last chapter, I haven't quite decided yet. But I think this could be a good ending ppoint. There will be sequels of course. So don't worry about that. However, I think that the next one may be set a couple of months later. If you want me to do a chapter about Phoebe talking to Cole, review and tell me. I don't usually do chapters on sisters other than Piper, but this could fit, so I'm open to the idea. Otherwise, I'll just skip over it, and just abbreviate what happened in the next story. Also, I haven't yet decided whether or not to send Prue back. I don't really want to, but I'm not sure it she'll work in the next story. If I do decide to send her back, I would probably decide to do it in this story. So if I don't just end the story here, there will only be like two more chapters, tops. And I may finish Believe in Me before moving on to the next story, because Believe in Me may contain some vital info. As always, your ideas are helpful, so review, and tell me what you think! 

Charmed Writer: Thank you for loyally sending me reviews even when I failed to update. And yay, your next story is up! I love it so far! 

"Do you think that she'll talk to him?" Prue asked, as Piper helped her pour tea into four cups.  Piper sighed.

            "I don't know. Probably, after that…But I don't know whether she'll really let herself go."

            "You're being stronger than I could ever be about all of this." Prue said softly, and lightly ran her hand down Piper's face. Piper snorted, shaking her head.

            "No I'm not. I'm barely surviving. Right now, I'm pretty much going on a day to day basis here…it's still taking a good portion of my energy just to keep breathing."

            "But your still doing it. And considering what you went through…I think that's more than I could do. You didn't even tell them the half of it, you know."

            "Yeah, I know. Just a tad more than the bare minimum. But there's so much of what happened that I can't even begin to put into words…and even if I could, I don't know just how much of it they could understand. They're already having problems grasping what I did tell them…I could see it in their eyes. And they don't need to know everything. It would just make them hurt even more than they already are…I'm not going to put them through that unnecessarily."

            "Just as long as you promise that you will never shut them out. I don't want to say it but…I don't know how long I have left here. And when I go back, I want to know that you are going to open up with them, just like I make you do for me. Promise?" Piper smiled.

            "Am I detecting your infamous bossy big sister gene emerging here? Don't worry, I promise. Now that I finally have them back to confide in, I'm not exactly that eager to let them go again." Prue smiled, and lightly hit Piper on the arm.

            "Bossy big sister. Humph. I like that. Just because I like to tell people what to do…" Piper laughed, and returned the hit with a swat of the dishtowel. Prue began tickling here, and Piper returned the attack with a vengeance. Prue was delighted to see her sister so seemingly carefree and happy, she couldn't remember the last time Piper had laughed like that. After a moment though, Piper stopped and sat down, looking ashamed. Prue recognized the look in her eyes, and sat down beside her, wrapping her arm around Piper's shoulder and pulling her sister close.

            "It's ok to have fun sometimes you know. Leo would want that. He wouldn't want you to miserable for the rest of your life."

            "Th-there are times when I almost forget, for a second that he's really gone. He was away so often for his whitelighter business…it's hard to believe that's not where he is right now, and it seems so natural to slip back into feeling good. But then I remember that he's really gone, and it just…hits me like a knife. How could I forget, even for one second, that he's d-dead? How can I even begin to have fun again after I watched my husband die, and didn't do anything to stop it? I don't deserve to have fun, and the fact that I am able to forget just goes to show, in case there was any doubt left in anyone's mind, just what a horrible person I am. How could I do it Prue? How?" The tears rolled down Piper's cheeks, and Prue gently rubbed her back. Piper had come so far already, and there were times when Piper really seemed like she was going to be ok…and then something like this would hit, and Prue would realize again just how far her sister still had to go. 

            "Hey." She said softly. "Don't talk like that. You are not a horrible person for letting yourself go and having fun once in a while. Leo would have wanted that."

            "But…"

            "No buts. Piper, its perfectly natural to forget once in awhile. It's the body's way of dealing, of healing. It's not your fault! None of this is. And you're never going to really begin to heal until you accept that."

            "I c-cant." Piper sniffed. Paige's voice came form the door then, and Piper glanced up, startled.

            "Sure you can. I know it seems hard, but that's what we're here to help you with. Prue's right you know. None of this is your fault." Paige came over, and sat next to Piper's other side, hugging her sister.

            "When I lost my parents, I blamed myself too. You know that, I still did, even years later. And every time I had fun, I hated myself for thinking that I could do so without them, when they couldn't. But I was wrong, and that was no way to live my life. My parents wouldn't have wanted me to live like that, and Leo wouldn't want you to live your life like that. When I came here, still blaming myself for their deaths, you told me that it wasn't my fault, that something like that could never be my fault. Well, now it's time for you to take some of your own advice, honey. You can do it. And we'll be here for you, every step of the way." Piper sniffed, and got herself under control. She gave Paige a watery smile, and Prue gave Paige a grateful one.

            "Thanks Paige." Piper said simply, and the three had a big group hug, right there on the kitchen floor. As they pulled apart, Piper looked around.

            "Where's Phoebe?" She inquired. "Is she mad at me for what I said earlier?" Paige shook her head, smiling.

            "Of course she's not. As a matter of fact, she's calling Cole right now. I think they're going to meet later today to talk. You did good work, sister."

            "Of course she did." Phoebe said, entering the kitchen. "She is our Piper, after all. Kneeling down, she took one of Piper's hands in her own, and continued on more softly.

            "He's coming here to talk at three, by the way. Are you sure this is what you want me to do?" Piper nodded.

            "Positive."

            "Then I will." Phoebe then glanced around, as if taking in her surroundings for the first time.

            "Is there a particular reason that we're all sprawled her on the kitchen floor?" She asked, a but mystified. The other three laughed, and Piper stood up, brushing any remaining tears from her eyes. 

            "Come on." She said. "Prue and I made tea, and I want to hear about everything that's been going on in your lives while I've been away. I told my story, now it's your turn to tell yours." Each taking a cup of tea, the sisters followed Piper into the living room, to continue building their sisterhood back to where it had once been.


	9. Memories

A/N: Hey guys. So this is the second to last chapter, the next one will be the end. I didn't show Phoebe's meeting with Cole, as you can see her. Since reader was the only person who reviewed to tell me whether or not to do that, I decided to follow her wishes not to. As for whether or not Prue is going back, well, you'll find that out next chapter!

Charmed Writer: Thanks for the review. Since you are such a loyal reader/reviewer, your ideas are very important, and will be placed above others concerns. Meaning I will follow the advice in your review. Wow, I just gave away some things from the next chapter, but oh well. Lol. Hopefully that doesn't make you mad. 

Piper moved quietly around in the kitchen, assembling the things that she thought she might need. Phoebe had gone to meet Cole at three, as promised, and the meeting had ended up taking a really long time. It was now 12:00, and Paige and Prue had long since gone to bed. Phoebe had called earlier, so that her sisters wouldn't worry, letting them know that she was planning to stay late to try and work things out. Picking up what she had cooked and gathered, Piper headed upstairs to her room. 

A few minutes later, Phoebe quietly let herself into the manor. Walking upstairs, she headed down the hall to her room. Once she got to Piper's door, however, she hesitated. _Should I go in?_ Phoebe wondered. _Is she waiting for me? Does she even remember, and if she does, does she want to continue our tradition?_

Flashback

Twelve-year old Phoebe Halliwell walked into the manor, flushed and excited form her first date. She had gone to see a movie with Ted Stanley, a guy whom she had had a crush on all year. Phoebe had been thrilled when he asked her out, and tonight he said that he wanted to see her again soon! Phoebe passed Prue as she entered the foyer, who was on her way to a date with Andy. 

"Oh Prue," Phoebe gushed, eager to share her good news, "you'll never guess what Ted said to me…"

"Save it." Prue said coldly. "I'm running late. Besides, it's just a middle school date. What's so special about that?" Phoebe felt hurt. Sure, she didn't expect Prue to be ecstatic for her, but a little caring would be nice. Oh well. Grams would care. Her youngest granddaughter, out on her first date…of course Grams would want to hear about it.

"Grams is in the kitchen." Prue said, as if reading Phoebe's mind. Don't get your hopes up about gushing about your date to her. She's pretty mad." 

As Phoebe walked into the kitchen, she saw her Grams sitting at the table, tapping her foot. Grams looked up from the book she was reading, and peered crossly at Phoebe. 

"You're late." She said angrily. Phoebe flushed.

"Sorry. The movie ran longer than expected."

"You should have called."

"I know, I meant to, but then we started talking and I just…forgot."

"How did you get home?"

"Ted's brother came and got us." Grams frowned.

"His teenage brother? You went in a car with a teenage boy?" Phoebe cringed. She shouldn't have mentioned that.

"Look Phoebe, this was your first time out, and I trusted you to be responsible. You let me down. I'm afraid that I'm not going to allow you to go on any more dates until you prove to me that you can, actually, be trusted. And you're grounded for the next week for not calling."

"But Grams…" Phoebe moaned.

"No buts. Now good to bed. It's late. And try not to make too much noise. Piper went up about an hour ago, she's tired from her cold." Sighing heavily, Phoebe trudged up the stairs to the bedroom that she shared with Piper. Now she had no one to share the details of the night with. _This is so unfair_. Phoebe thought. _Now Ted is never going to want to go on another date with me. He's going to think I'm a complete baby, completely controlled by my grandmother. He'll want to go out with someone more cool, someone who can make her own decisions._ Phoebe slowly opened the door to her bedroom, wary of waking Piper. To her surprise, Piper was not asleep. All of the lights were on, and Piper was sitting on her bed her pajamas, reading. There was a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the dresser, along with two mugs of tea. Piper looked up and smiled when Phoebe entered, and put down her books.

"Hey." Phoebe said. "Grams said you were asleep." Piper shook her head. 

"I wanted to wait up for you." Phoebe smiled, and glanced at the cookies.

"What are those for?"

"They're for you." Piper responded. Phoebe looked surprised. 

"For me? Why?" Piper laughed.

"In celebration of you first date, silly. It's a pretty special thing, and I thought you deserved something nice for it. Especially after the way I thought Grams might react when you were late. Did she make a scene?" Phoebe grimaced.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Anyway, do you want to talk about the date tonight? You must be pretty excited, and I figured you might want to share. Besides, I'm really interested in how it went." Phoebe grinned, her face lighting up. 

"You really want to hear all of the little details?" She asked, pleased.

"Of course I do! This is important! You'll probably tell all of your friends tomorrow, but I thought that you might settle in confiding in your dorky older sister tonight…" Phoebe grinned again, and threw her arms around Piper's neck.

"I would love to. And you're not dorky. Let me just get changed into something more comfortable." Phoebe changed into her pajamas, then sat down next to her Piper on her sister's bed. For the next several hours, they ate cookies and talked about every little detail of Phoebe's date, analyzing every little thing that Ted said and did. Piper offered Phoebe her advice and support, reassuring her that Ted would not stop liking her just because Grams was being a little strict for a while.

"If he really likes you, he'll wait. And if he won't…well then, he doesn't deserve you. You're too good for someone like that." It was past three in the morning when the two sisters finally stopped talking, and Phoebe crept into her own bed. As she slid under the covers, Phoebe turned to Piper, who was already snuggled in.

"Piper?" She said softly, not wanting to wake her in case she had already fallen asleep.

"Yeah?" Piper answered.

"Thank you." Piper sat up, puzzled.

"For what?"

"For tonight. No one really seemed to care about my date, or think that it was important and it just…means a lot to me that you do. Especially with everything that's been going on for you lately. You always find a way to be cheerful for me, and spend time with me, and I really love you for that. I don't think that I tell you often enough just how much all of this really means to me." Piper smiled, touched. 

"Hey, that's what sister's are for, right? Anyway, I love spending time with you too. Tell you what, whenever you get home from a date, we'll do this. I'll make cookies or get ice cream or whatever, and then we can just talk about it all night. It can be our little secret. Sound good to you?" Phoebe grinned, though Piper couldn't see her in the darkness. 

"Sounds great." She said, and the two went to sleep.

Present Time

Phoebe sighed, reflecting over the memory. Piper had always kept up that deal, so that now, for as long as she could remember, it had been a tradition for her to camp out in Piper's room after a date, so that she could tell her big sister all about it, and Piper could offer advice and opinions on what had occurred. Piper also always cooked delicious cookies, and brought up ice cream and popcorn and tea for them to devour. It was their special thing, and no one else, including Paige and Prue, knew about it. Even when Piper went off to college, and later, when Phoebe moved to New York, Piper told her to call after every date, no matter what happened. And Phoebe did. She could call her sister at three in the morning, and Piper would be willing to talk to her. Her big sister was even willing to cancel dates to hold up her end of the bargain. It was one of the many ways that Piper had always been there for her sister, and Phoebe loved it. She was always so supportive of my love life. Phoebe thought despairingly_. How could I ever have thought that she would have done something to hurt it? After all of the times that she was there for me…how could I have possible believed that she would mess around with Cole? Even if she was having problems with Leo…Piper never would have done something like that. All I had to do was remember all of these times, and I should have realized that. Her offering her advice and support after my dates was one of the most comforting thinfs in my life, and I had to go and screw that up, go and hurt the person who does so much for me.  Now, I'm not even sure if Piper will want to continue the tradition._ _Well_, _I can at least check to see if she wants to. If she's asleep, then I can always leave without waking her up. Besides, if she does want to, and I don't go in, she'll probably be really hurt. So the least I can do is go in and check._ With that in mind, Phoebe finally knocked on the door.   


	10. The Routine

A/N: Well, after a month of writer's block, I am able to give you something. I hope you like it…and I hope the format works! When I first started writing, everything came out all nice and double spaced (as you can see from looking at the beginning of my stories) and now they aren't any more. And I'm not doing anything differently!!!! Argg….I wonder what's up with my computor. Anyway, I hope that this chapter pleases all of guys. Don't forget to review to tell me if you like it, or tell me what I did wrong if it doesn't work for you. Oh, and I lied about the last chapter being the second to last. I decided that there is some more stuff that I want to put in here, so I don't know how much longer this will be. Anyway, on with the story!

Piper sat nervously on her bed, twirling her hair around her finger. A plate full of homemade chocolate chip cookies sat beside her, along with two mugs of steaming tea. She had made them earlier, in anticipation of Phoebe getting home from talking with Cole. While she had been cooking Piper had been able to keep herself from thinking too much, but now, she was starting to worry. _What if Phoebe doesn't want to do this anymore? It's been so long…maybe she doesn't want to talk to me about stuff like this anymore. Maybe I'm just being stupid setting all of this up…she probably won't even come in when she gets home. Or she'll pop her head in to say goodnight, and then feel guilty because she doesn't want to do this. Paige and Prue went to bed hours ago, I probably should have just done that too. I'm probably just being stupid…_Suddenly, Piper was jerked out of thoughts by a knock at the door. 

            "Come in!" She called, a little hesitantly. As the door opened, Piper bit her lip. Phoebe stood in the doorway, smiling nervously. She entered the room slowly, perching on the edge of Piper's bed. 

            "Hey." Phoebe said.

            "Hey." Piper replied uncertainly. "I made cookies and tea…" her voice trailed off slowly. Phoebe smiled. 

            "It all smells great. Let me go put on some pajamas." When Phoebe returned, she once more sat down on the bed next to Piper. For a long moment, neither sister said anything, just looked at each other and twiddled with their clothes and hair. Suddenly, they both started to talk.

            "I was worried that you might not want to do this anymore." They both blurted out at the same time, then laughed. Piper shook her head slowly.

            "I'll always want to do this." She told Phoebe. "It's one of the best parts of being your sister. I wouldn't give it up for the world." Phoebe smiled, and hugged her.

            "I'd never give it up either…" She broke off, flushed, and looked down. After all, she very nearly had given all of this up. Piper seemed to have caught that as well, for she looked away from Phoebe for a moment.  When she looked back, there was something slightly forced about her smile, and an expression that Phoebe couldn't quite define in her eyes. Piper grinned then, and Phoebe wondered if she had just been imagining it. Climbing behind Phoebe, Piper started to play with her sister's hair, brushing and braiding it in the way that only she could. 

            "So," Piper said, "how did it go?" Phoebe leaned back into her sister, comfortable beyond belief in the relief of the old custom.

            "Pretty good, actually. Things were weird at first, really stiff and polite between us. You know how it is." Piper nodded.

            "Yeah." She said softly. "I know the feeling."

            "I blew up at him about halfway through the meeting. Completely screamed my head off…yelled all sorts of things that weren't actually true about what he did. I'm surprised he didn't just up and leave."

            "He loves you a lot you know." Piper told her, and brushed a strand of hair away from Phoebe's face.

            "Yeah, I know. And he seemed to understand that in order for us to go anywhere, I needed to get that off of my chest. Things went better after that. We talked for hours, about everything."

            "Was that nice?" Phoebe sighed.

            "Yeah, it was. He knows me so well, you know? And in some ways I feel like him so well…but then I think about everything that happened, and he feels like a complete stranger. I know it wasn't him, but…"

            "There's a part of you that will always think of what happened when you look at him. Trust me, I know what you mean."

            "However hard it is for me to look at him and see that other person, it must be ten times harder for you." Piper smiled, and shook her head slightly.

            "Yeah, it's hard sometimes…but you kinda just have to look at it as a bad dream. You know that feeling you have when you dream about someone, and then you see them the next day? You can't blame the person for what they did in your dream, even though a part of you wants to. I have the that same sort of feeling when I see Cole, and I just have to think about it in the same way." Phoebe tilted her head, thinking about that.

            "Hmm. I hadn't really though about it that way…but you're right, that is the feeling that I get. It's a good way to put it."

            "What did you two decide?" Piper asked, as she finished brushing her sister's hair. "Here," she said, handing the brush to Phoebe, "My turn." The two switched places, and Phoebe started to brush out Piper's hair. 

            "We're going to keep seeing each other. We're going to take it slow though…I'll need time to build up my trust in him again. If something ever turns him evil again…I need to know that he'll tell me before it's too late."

            "I'm glad that you guys aren't breaking up." Piper said, and turned to hug her sister. Under her breath, more to herself than to Phoebe, Piper murmured, "At least one couple should get a happy ending." Phoebe heard her sister's comment and hugged her tighter.

            "You must miss him so much." Phoebe whispered. "I'd do anything to be able to bring him back to you…anything to undo what I did."

            "I know you would." Piper replied. She clutched her sister for a few more seconds, then broke away, wiping her eyes. 

            "But tonight is supposed to be about you. We can talk about me some other time. Now I want to hear ever last detail about tonight. You gave me the summary, now I need the full story. What you said, what he said…you know the drill."  Phoebe smiled and nodded.

            "Of course I do big sis."      

            "Then you better get talking, little sis." The two smiled at each other, and as Phoebe poured her heart out to her big sister, they found that their time-honored tradition helped to strengthen the bonds between them that had almost been broken, so that they could once more be comfortable with each other. As they snuggled into bed early the next morning, Phoebe smiled at her big sister.

            "Piper?" She asked softly.

            "Yeah?" Piper replied.

            "Thanks." Smiling in memory of the first time Phoebe had said those words in this situation, Piper squeezed her sister's hand.

            "Hey, that's what sisters are for, right?" Each sister was relieved at fully getting the other back, and they both fell into a deep and comfortable sleep. 


	11. The Next Morning

            A/N: So, like I said, not sure how much more of this there is. I am definitely planning to do a Piper/Paige bonding session, like I did for her and Phoebe. That should be soon. I don't know if I like this chapter, Piper might be a little too happy. The next one will be a little more down, to show that she is still grieving (I learned my mistake about not including that last time) but still, I don't know if this fits. Review and tell me what you think, if you think Piper should be more restrained, or whatever. Anyway, I hope you like it, even if I'm not thrilled with it. Oh, Iapoligise for any formatting errors there may be.

The next morning, Phoebe woke before Piper, and lay there for a few minutes, looking at her sister. _Wow_. Phoebe thought. _This has got to be the first times that I am_

_actually up before Piper_. It wasn't that Piper was a morning person…she just always had so much to do, that she would sacrifice sleep in order to get all of her work done and still 

have time to spend with her sisters. Climbing out of her sister's bed, Phoebe moved carefully so as not to wake Piper. She needs her sleep. God knows she hasn't been getting enough 

lately. Pulling a robe on over her pajamas, and sliding into a pair of slippers, Phoebe padded downstairs to start making some coffee. 

            Piper woke not long after that. As she blinked the sleep from her eyes, a smile crept across her face. It was so good to have things back to normal between her and Phoebe. 

Things had gotten a little better when they were talking again, but…Piper hadn't realized just how stressful it had been to have such a rift between her and her little sister. Piper would do 

everything in her power to keep another rift like that one springing up again. As she headed downstairs, Piper could smell the delicious aroma of coffee wafting up from the kitchen.

            "Hey." Piper said, as she joined her sister in the kitchen. "You're up early." Phoebe smiled at her.

            "I know. Strange, isn't it? I was hoping that you'd sleep in a little longer though. You were up late last night, and you need your sleep." Piper made a face and lightly whacked 

her sister on the arm.

            "Hey, I thought I was the big sister here." She said jokingly. Phoebe laughed.

            "Well, I guess I picked up some big sister techniques myself since we found Paige. And if I have to use them on you, then that's your fault for not taking better care of yourself." 

Piper rolled her eyes.

            "Well in that case, I'll consider myself warned. Seriously though, I'm fine. I may not have slept for a really long time last night, but I still got a better and more relaxing night's 

sleep than I have had for a long time. Which was your doing, you know. I really needed that, last night." Piper finished softly. Phoebe smiled, and leaned over to hug her.

            "I really needed last night too. Although I'm not to sure what exactly it was that I did. You were the one giving all of the advice and comfort and stuff last night, not me." Piper nodded.

            "That's kind of what I needed. Ever since Prue died last year, I've just felt so…so lost. Like almost a completely different person. I didn't know who I was anymore, and that 

scared me. Last night, having that tradition with you…I felt like I had found myself again. The real me, I mean, not the stranger that I've been this past year. Since Prue came back, I feel

like I can go back to being the person that I was, the person I really am, instead of whoever else I've been lately. And last night, talking with you, like old times, it sort of…cemented 

that. I don't know it you're really following me, but…thanks." Arms around Piper's shoulders, Phoebe smiled at her. 

            "You're welcome. And I think I'm glad that the old Piper is coming back. I didn't love you any less for the changes in you this past year, I mean, god, after all of the changes we 

went through I could hardly blame you, but…it's good to see the Piper that I grew up with again." Piper laughed slightly.

            "Well I'm glad to be back. Hey, while you make that coffee, what do you say that I get started on some breakfast?" Phoebe grinned, and rubbed her stomach.

            "Sounds great. What were you planning to make?" 

            "I was thinking about pancakes. We got a lot of fruit the other day at the store, and I want to use it before it goes bad." 

            "That sounds delicious. I think that the mix is up on the shelf over there." Phoebe said, innocently. Piper gave her a look.

            "A mix? If you really think that I am going to use a mix to make these pancakes, then you really don't know me very well." Phoebe giggled.

            "Yeah, I know. But it's so fun to get you going on your 'mixes are for useless, incompetent people who don't care about the quality of what they eat' tirade." Piper made a face.

            "Thanks ever so much." She said dryly. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind the next time you mention something about mixes. I appreciate the heads up." Phoebe giggled again.

            "What's a little sister for, if not to lovingly tease her big sister and keep her on her toes?" Phoebe asked, eyes opened wide, giving Piper one of her most innocent looks.

            "Oh you." Piper said, exasperated, and flicked the dishtowel at her sister. Suddenly, she got a mischievous look in her eye.  Sticking a spoon into the batter that she had been 

mixing from scratch, Piper flung a spoonful of batter at Phoebe. It hit her unsuspecting sister right on the cheek. Phoebe gasped, and whirled around to look at Piper. 

            "Now that's low." Phoebe said, trying to look stern. The fact that she could hardly keep herself from laughing, however, didn't exactly help her image. Grabbing a handful of 

coffee grinds, Phoebe ran over and ground them into Piper's hair. Before long, a full on food fight had begun in the kitchen. Ten minutes later, they finally stopped, both breathless from 

laughter. Piper glanced around at her kitchen, surveying the damage. Normally such a mess would have stressed her out beyond belief, but it was hard to be annoyed, since she still 

couldn't stop laughing. 

            "So," she said, turning to Phoebe, "what do you think the odds are that we can get this mess cleaned up before Prue and Paige get up?"

            Somehow, they managed it. When Prue finally emerged about half an hour alter, and Paige fifteen minutes after that, the kitchen was clean, and breakfast and coffee were on the 

table. Phoebe and Piper were sitting next to each other, giggling over something in the newspaper. 

            "You two are cheerful." Prue commented, helping herself to a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee." They giggled again.

            "I guess it's just a beautiful day." Phoebe said, trying to appear serene and calm. Prue looked at her, wondering at the state of her sisters sanity, and sat down.

            "Right." She said. "A beautiful day." Paige groaned as she entered the kitchen and heard that statement.

            "Ug." She stated eloquently. "It's to early in the morning for anything to be beautiful." Phoebe laughed unsympathetically, but smiling, Piper took pity on her baby sister and 

poured her a cup of coffee. Paige took a big gulp and then sighed, wiping her mouth on her arm. After having gotten her fix, Paige was willing to be a little more friendly, and she smiled 

gratefully at Piper.

            "Thanks." She said, relieved. "I needed that." 

            "No problem." Piper responded. "Breakfast is on the table, if you're interested." Paige nodded, and sat down. 

            "Wow," she said a few minutes later, mouth full of pancakes, "these are amazing. What mix is this? I really need to remember it." Phoebe burst out laughing, and Piper tried to

 look indignant, but couldn't hide the fact that her eyes were dancing. 

            "Oh no." Prue groaned. "Now you've got her going." 

            "What?" Paige asked, looking from sister to sister, "What did I do."

            "Piper never uses a mix." Prue informed her. Phoebe was still laughing too hard to respond. "If you even _mention_ mixes in her presence, you get subjected to her lecture on the 

horrors of mixes." Piper rolled her eyes, and waved her hand dismissively at Prue and Phoebe.

            "Don't listen to them. They just think that because they can't do anything without a mix, no one else can either." Paige laughed at the way the other three acted around each 

other, with such easy familiarity and knowledge of the others. At any other time she probably would have felt jealous, but now she was too happy to see Piper so happy to really mind 

much. It would most likely bother her later, but at least she could enjoy her sister's happiness for now. Just then noticing the small pieces of food stuck on Piper and Phoebe in various 

places, she looked at them, eyes sparkling.

            "So Phoebe," she asked innocently, "is batter in your hair the new fashion?" Phoebe and Piper looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Paige and Prue looked at each other, 

mystified.

            "Are we missing something?" Paige asked Prue.

            "I think we are." Prue said. "What happened to you two? Things definitely seem different this morning." The two just giggled again. Standing up, Piper and Phoebe threw their 

arms around each other's shoulders.

            "Oh, let's just say that we got a little blast from the past." Piper said. Still giggling, Piper and Phoebe walked out of the kitchen. Prue looked over to Paige and shrugged.

            "I think that's all we're going to get out of them." She said.  


	12. The Dream

A/N: This is a short one, but the next one will be up right away.  I just liked ending the chapter like this. Enjoy!

Piper went to bed that night feeling happier than she had in a long time. It was so good to have Phoebe back again…there had been more than one time during the day that she had wanted to cry from happiness. It had been so long since she had done that…lately all the crying she had done had been because of pain. 

            "I'm just so relieved that things are finally getting back to normal." Piper murmured softly, as she snuggled under her covers. "Aren't you Leo?" Piper rolled over on her bed to face him, and threw an arm over him. But it landed on an empty spot, and there was no one lying next to her. Piper gulped, as all of the pain and sadness that had gone away for the day came crashing back. She had completely forgotten that he wasn't there with her like he always had been…and the reality was crushing. Tears started streaming down her face, and she cursed softly. 

            "Why did I have to lose you?" She questioned softly. "I need you back Leo…I need you back so much." Piper sniffed, and picked up the bottle of sleeping pills that sat on her nightstand next to her bed. She couldn't deal with this tonight. Maybe later but…it had been such a good day, and right now, she didn't want to face being alone. Popping a few of the little white pills into her mouth, Piper allowed the darkness to slowly overcome her.

Piper walked through the rooms of the manor, searching for someone or something. She wasn't sure what it was she was looking for. Then, entering the kitchen, Piper spotted Prue sitting at the table. Prue looked up and smiled at her, and Piper smiled in return. Strolling over to the counter, Piper picked up a knife and hid it behind her back. She walked over to Prue, and stood behind her. Before Prue had time to say anything, Piper plunged the knife into her sister's back. Prue fell onto the floor, dead. She hadn't even had time to scream. Stepping over Prue's body, Piper went off in search of the other members of her household. Paige and Phoebe were in the Solarium. They, too smiled as she walked toward them. Piper ignored their smiles. Pulling out a baseball bat form (where? Where did it come from? It was just suddenly there…but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she had it.) Piper took the baseball bat and slammed it into both of her sisters' heads. They crumpled to the floor, and she beat their bodies with it. She left them there hurt and bleeding. They weren't dead, but for some reason that didn't matter. She didn't kill them. There was one more person that Piper needed to find, and Piper knew where he'd be.She slowly stalked to her bedroom, where she found him lying on the bed. As she approached him, she felt something materialize in her hands, behind her back. She smiled. As the man rose to kiss her, Piper whipped out the weapon and shot him. He fell to the floor, shock and pain, and the hurt of betrayal evident in his eyes. As Piper watched his body fall, she suddenly realized what she had done to her family. Staring at the dead body of her husband, she screamed and screamed and screamed.


	13. After the Dream I know, creative, huh?

A/N: See, I told you the next chapter would come right away. Here's the chapter that all Paige fans have been waiting for, the one where Paige and Piper have a sister bonding moment. I hope you all like it! I tried to make it nice and long, too…

Charmed Writer: Thank you so much for your continual and inspiring reviews. You rock! (and yes, here I go again with my bossiness…update update!)

Piper awoke suddenly, gasping for breath. As she slowly grasped her surroundings, her breathing slowed, but her body continued to shake. She had had that dream again. She had had it often since Leo's death…but lately, it had been coming less and less. In fact, Piper hadn't had it on over two weeks before this night. She thought it had gone away.

            "Apparently not." She sighed, and rose shakily from her bed. There was no way she would be able to get back to sleep now. Pulling on her robe and liding on her slippers, Piper padded quietly downstairs, careful not to wake anyone. As she entered the kitchen, Piper shuddered slightly, remembering what she had done to Prue in the dream. _But it's not real_. Piper told herself sternly. _Everyone's fine, it was all a dream_. A corner of her mind scoffed at this. _Everyone except for Leo_. It told her darkly. Piper shook her head to try and get rid of the voice. Filling the teakettle, she began to heat some water. Tea would help. It usually did. Piper sniffed, and blinked back tears.  A cup of tea couldn't solve everything, no matter how much she wished it could. As Piper started to pour some of the water into her mug, she heard a noise on the stairs and froze. A few moments later, Paige entered the kitchen, blinking at the light. 

            "Hey," Piper said. "What are you doing up?" Paige shrugged.

            "I was having some trouble sleeping, and I heard someone come downstairs, so I thought I'd come investigate. I take it you couldn't sleep either." Piper shook her head and looked away. She didn't want to tell Paige about her dream. Paige however, noticed that something was wrong. Crossing over to her sister, she brushed the remnants of tears off her sister's face.

            "Hey," she said softly, "you've been crying?" Piper shook her head and brushed away the tears. 

            "No I…It's nothing. I just…got something in my eye, that's all." Paige gave her a look.

            "Please." She said. "I may not have known you for as long as Prue and Phoebe, but I do know you well enough to be able to tell when something is up. So come on. What's wrong? You can talk to me." Piper sighed.

            "Really, its nothing. Just a stupid dream. I don't want to bother you with it." Paige wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders.

            "Hey, what are sisters for if not to bother about 'stupid dreams'? Spill."

            "Are you sure you want to hear? It's not very pleasant."

            "Positive." Piper sighed again, and bit her lip. She finished filling her mug of tea, then made one for Paige as well. The two headed over to the table and sat down.

            "All right." Piper said. "In the dream, I'm wandering around the house looking for something. When I get to the kitchen, I find Prue there and I…I kill her. I leave her body on the floor, then keep going. I find you and Phoebe, and I beat you guys up hurting you really badly." Piper's voice was barely above a whisper, and was raw with pain. "After I hurt you two I go upstairs to find Leo, and I kill him too. Then I suddenly realize what I've done, and I start to scream. That's when I wake up." Piper looked up, tears in her eyes, to see how Paige was taking what she told her. Paige's eyes were full of compassion, and she leaned over to hug Piper.

            "Oh honey," she breathed. "You still blame yourself for everything that's happened?" Piper sniffed, and pulled away.

            "What do you mean?" 

            "That's what the dreams are about. You blame yourself for Prue's death, which is why you kill Prue in the dream. It symbolizes the fact that you think you did kill Prue, even if it was indirectly. Same with Leo, and with us. You think that whatever hurt we went through during this big mess is your fault. You think that you hurt us, so that is what you see yourself doing in the dream." Piper smiled a watery smile and tried to joke.

            "And here I thought Phoebe was the one with a psychology major." She said weakly. Paige smiled at her.  

            "Don't try to change the subject." Piper snorted, and looked down at her tea. "Piper, look at me. Piper glanced up, but couldn't meet Paige's gaze. "Look at me. Paige reapeted. She took Piper's chin and turned it her direction, until Piper's eyes were forced to meet Paige's. 

            "This is not your fault." Paige said sternly. "Okay?" Piper shrugged, and tried to glance away again. Paige sighed. "Trust me honey, I know how hard that is for you to believe, really I do, but it's not. Now say it with me. This is not my fault."

            "This is not my fault." Piper repeated half-heartedly, obviously not believing what she was saying. Paige saw it and looked at her again.

            "No, I want you to say it like you mean it, okay? Again. 'this is not my fault.'"

            "This is not my fault." It was better that time, But Paige could tell that Piper still didn't really believe it. She sighed however, and decided to let it go for the moment. Sipping her tea, she looked at Piper, concerned. Piper was really pale, and still shaking slightly.

            "Are you feeling any better?" Paige inquired softly. "I know how hard those dreams can hit you. When my parents died…well, I had a recurring dream like that that stayed with me for years."

            "You did?" Paige nodded. 

            "In mine, my parents are driving in the car, and I'm following them in a different car. Suddenly, we're in front of this cliff. My parents stop their car, and park it, but I don't stop mine. Not because I can't, but because I don't want to. Instead, I slam my car into theirs and push it over the cliff, with them in it. On purpose. Then I get out of my car and walk over to the edge of the cliff. I see the car burning below me, and I start to scream. That's when I wake up. My school counselor helped me see that I had the dream because I blamed myself for my parents death, but it was years before I could even begin to accept that. As time went by, I had the dream less and less, but it still tended to pop up at moments when I was feeling particularly insecure. It wasn't until you guys came along that I really delt with what happened. I haven't had the dream since the time when I went to the past." Piper shook her head.

            "I can't believe that I never knew any of this." She said quietly. Paige squeezed her hand. 

            "You didn't need to. It was a part of my past that wasn't very good, and I didn't really see the need to share it."

            "But we're sisters. You said it yourself, what are sisters for if not to share stupid annoying, hurtful dreams with? Especially one like that…you've had it so much that it must have been almost an integral part of you by the time we met you. The only real reason you wouldn't have shared it is because you didn't feel comfortable with me, and I don't blame you. I've been a horrible sister to you, and I am so so sorry Paige. I wish that I could go back and do everything over again, and treat you the way you deserve. I don't deserve to have such a wonderful caring person to be my sister, especially not after the way I treated you. I don't know how you could even find it in your heart to love me, but you've convinced me, time after time, that you do."

            "Piper, of course I do, don't…" But Piper cut her off, unable to stop now that she had started.

            "I don't even know why I acted like that, because I loved you the minute I laid eyes on you. All I wanted to do was to welcome you into the family, but I couldn't. Something wouldn't let me, and I don't even know _why_! Maybe it was because I thought that if I admitted to loving you, something would come and kill you, just like it killed grams and mom and Prue. And I didn't want you to get hurt…I'd do anything to keep that from happening, but it meant hurting you in another way. And you didn't deserve that. You didn't." Tears were rolling freely down Piper's face now, and she rocked herself slowly back and forth, repeating that last line. Paige enveloped her in a hug, rocking with her, and rubbing Piper's back until Piper's cries finally quieted. 

            "You were not a horrible sister, all right? I understood that you were grieving, I couldn't blame you for that. And anyways, you're here now, that's what counts, right? The beginning doesn't matter so much."

            "Phoebe was grieving too, and she didn't treat you like that. She treated you the way you deserved to be treated."

            "Phoebe didn't blame herself for every death that had ever happened in the family. You did. I could see it. And you said it yourself, you didn't want to risk letting that happen to me. I understand that, and it shows more than normal gestures of affection ever could just how much you loved me. You don't need to worry about that." Piper sighed, and shook her head.

            "Anyways," Paige continued, "Phoebe gave me another theory as to why you acted the way you did, I theory that I think holds a lot of merit."

            "Really?" Piper asked. "What's that?"

            "I don't think that I could really explain it properly, or make it sound just right. Besides, its not really my place to tell, it's Phoebe's. Ask her tomorrow." Piper nodded slowly.

            "Yeah, I think I will. Thanks Paige. For…everything." Paige shook her head.

            "I don't need thanks. Just knowing that I helped you feel a little better is good enough for me." Suddenly, Piper glanced at her wrist, and sighed impatiently when she noticed her watch wasn't there. 

            "Do you know what time it is?" she asked Paige. Paige glanced at her own watch.

            "Just after four. Why?"

            "Are you planning on going back to bed tonight?" Paige shook her head.

            "Nope, I think I'm up for the day. I repeat, why?" Piper smiled secretively, and took Paige's hand.

            "Come on. There's somewhere I want to take you."


	14. The Bridge

Well, here's a shortie. I was going to make it longer, and include Phoebe's theory about Piper's behavior, but then I ran out of time. And I figured that you guys would rather wait a day and get a quality chapter that talks about that than have me include  a rushed paragraph now. Plus I'm tired, so it would be full of mistakes…anyways, I PROMISE that I will write that and update it tomorrow. For now, this is the chapter about where Piper takes Paige. Pretty much just fluff, but since Piper and Phoebe got two chapter's for bonding (well, three, if you count he flashback) I figured that Piper and Paige should get two chapters too. So anyways, I hope you all like it! Thanks so much to all who reviewed, particularly 

wAnNaBpIpEr (hope I got the caps right) I loved what you said in you're a/N, and I'm glad that you like my stories so much. 

P3Halliwell, thank you so much for the continual reviews

Cfan2005, who has also been consistently reviewing my story

 Alcandre, thank you for the great review, it inspired me so much!

 And thanks to anyone I didn't mention, these are just the people who reviewed for this chapter. I appreciate all of you greatly! And you should all read the stories by the people I have listed here, they are really great! 

Charmed Writer: (You get your own special spot!) Thank you so much for another great review (and the cookies, of course!) and all the great things you said about me in you're A/N. Everyone should read Charmed Writer's series! It is fantastic!

Grabbing Paige's hand, Piper led her outside and into her car. As they set off, Paige looked at Piper curiously.

"So," she inquired, "may I ask just where we are going at, oh, very early in the morning?" Piper just smiled secretively.

"You'll see." She replied. "I think you'll like it." After a while of driving, Piper pulled off of the road by the bridge. Opening her door, she climbed out of the car, and gestured for Paige to do the same. Paige stood outside the car, shivering slightly from the night air. Piper had walked over to the back of the car, and was pulling something out from the trunk.

"Sorry," she called out, "I know that it's kind of cold out here, but I'll have something for that in a sec." She walked back over to Paige, carrying two blankets. One, she spread on the hood of the car. Hopping up, Piper settled herself down and beckoned for Paige to join her. When both sisters were comfortably seated on the hood of Piper's car, she took the second blanket and spread it over them. Snuggled under the blanket, they leaned against each other for further warmth. 

"Now," Piper said quietly, "just watch." Not long after she said that, the sun began to rise over the bay. Paige had to catch in her breath, it was so beautiful. For the longest time the two just sat there, not saying anything. When the sunrise was over, and the early morning had arrived, Paige let out a breath and turned to face Piper.

"Wow." She said softly. "I've lived in San Francisco for like, my whole life, and yet I had never seen that before. It's…breathtaking." Piper nodded in agreement.

"Tell me about it."

"When did you first start coming here?" Piper thought about it for a moment.

"For as long as I can remember, really." She answered finally. "Mom used to bring me here when I was little. It's one of the few memories that I have about her. She'd wake me up, really early in the morning, and drive me over here to watch the sunrise, just the two of us. It was our special thing, and being here has always helped make me feel closer to her. After she died, I didn't come here for a long time. Since I was so little, so young, I couldn't come by myself, and it wouldn't be the same to come with Grams. After a while, I even forgot about it. But after I got my driver's license, I remembered again. I was still going through a pretty rough period then, and I needed all of the help I could get. This place helped me. Some people go visit the graves of relatives to feel close to them, but to me, that just made me think of death. This screams of life, which seemed like a better way to remember Mom. So I just kept coming." 

"I feel so…honored…that you'd bring me here. That you'd want to share this with me. I got the impression that this is something that even Prue and Phoebe don't know about."

"Yeah well…you never really got to have any connections with Mom. Phoebe was just a baby when Mom died too, but she still has stuff to hold on to. Places that Mom took her as a baby, things like that. You never got any of that. So I figured that maybe you might like a connection." Paige hugged her.

"You are one of the sweetest people I know. No, don't try to deny it. Just accept the compliment gracefully. After all, you wouldn't want to look like you're fishing for compliments, now would you?" Paige asked teasingly. Piper laughed, and blushed.

"Then thank you." She said, as ordered. Then, glancing at her watch, she sighed and climbed off the car.

"We should probably get going, if we want to get back before Prue and Phoebe wake up." Nodding, Paige helped Piper put the blankets back in the car, and the two headed back to the manor. 


	15. The Theory

A/N: Well, I got it out today! Yay!!!! It's kind of confusing though…I hope that you all can follow. And Prue fans, don't hate me. This isn't meant as an insult to Prue. I promise. If it seems that way, it's because I didn't write it well enough. Thank you so much to all who reviewed. (I decided not to list everyone, it doesn't mean I don't love you all, just that I figured since I'm running out of time before I have to go, you would rather have me put the time into writing the story.) Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, it might be a while before the next Believe in Me installment is up. I was delieting files from my computer, and accidently deleted that story!!! Arg…so now I have to rewrite a bunch of stuff, and I forgot what I had planned for the next few chapters. Anyways, I'm working on it.

Charmed Writer: See, I kept my promise! I'm so glad you liked it! It was a kind of spur of the moment chapter…I hadn't been planning anything like that at all. It just kind of…happened. Thanks for all the cookies…You're spoiling me! (not to mention my girlish figure…lol, jk, jk.) You deserve all of the stuff I said…and the special spot. 

Paige yawned as she and Piper walked back into the house, and Piper glanced at her worriedly.

            "You should go back to bed." Piper told her. "It's a Saturday, so you can sleep in. You look exhausted." Paige shrugged.

            "I'm fi-ine." She replied, then blushed as she yawned in the middle of her sentence. Piper lightly whacked her with the dishtowel that she had picked up.

            "Go." 

            "You're being so bossy," Paige whined playfully. Piper smacked her again.

            "I'm your big sister. Being bossy is my prerogative. Now get your butt upstairs and into bed, sister!" Giggling, Paige relented. 

            "Fine. But only because your making me."

            "Whatever you say Paige." Paige headed back upstairs to get some more sleep, and Piper sank wearily into a kitchen chair. She still hurt so much about Leo. Talking with Paige had helped some, but Piper didn't want to overburden her baby sister, so she had tried to keep some of what she felt hidden. She knew that Paige wanted to help, would be happy to help…but it was still hard to willingly subject her little sister to the pain it could cause her. Sighing, Piper got up and began the soothing act of making breakfast. 

            Later that afternoon, the four sisters sat draped on the couch, watching reruns of old movies. Paige smiled as the next add came up. 

            "Hey," Phoebe said, turning to Paige, "wasn't this your favorite movie as a child?" Paige nodded. 

            "Yeah, I adored it. Since it's such a classic, there was this one old movie theater that was always playing it, and my parents and I used to go see it…"

            "…every Saturday afternoon. That is so sweet." Phoebe said.

            "I never knew that." Piper said softly. Paige shrugged.

            "It's no big deal. Just something I mentioned when Phoebe was telling me about _Kill it Before it Dies_. It was a really long time ago, right around when I first met you guys."

            "She was nervous about the demon fighting, and I was just trying to make her more comfortable." Piper sighed.

            "I should have been doing that." She whispered, more to herself than to anyone else. They all heard her however, and three heads turned to look at Piper.

            "Honey," Phoebe said comfortably.

            "Why did I act like I did, Phoebe?" Piper asked abruptly. "Paige said that you have a theory about that…what is it?" Phoebe sighed slightly.

            "You really want to hear it? I don't know exactly how you'll feel about it, but…"

            "I want to hear it." Phoebe nodded.

            "All right. Look, before I tell you, I just want you to know that I've talked this over with Prue, and she agrees with me. Just so you know. Anyway, I think that the reason you acted like that to Paige at the beginning was because…well, because you were trying to emulate Prue."

            "What?!" Piper exclaimed. "Prue would _never_ have acted like that! How could you say that she could?" Phoebe held up her hand.

            "Look, just here me out, okay? I'm not saying that's how Prue would have treated Paige, all right I'm just…let me start over. You remember when I came back from New York? It was hard time for all of us, and Prue, well, she wasn't very welcoming. It wasn't because she didn't love me, she did. But she was hard on me in the beginning. Now, when she died and Paige came, you didn't know how to act. You were suddenly thrust into the position of oldest sister, and you weren't exactly sure how do it. So you tried to do everything just like Prue did. But when Paige came, you didn't have a past experience of Prue to rely on. This whole new sister thing was a first. You didn't know how Prue would have acted if she were there to meet Paige at first. But you did know how she treated me, when I first came back from New York. So I think that unconsciously, you tried to act toward Paige the same way that Prue acted toward me." Phoebe sighed, flustered. "I don't think that I'm explaining myself very well here." Piper shook her head slowly.

            "No, I get it. I'm not sure I belive you, but…I can see how it might be possible. I did try to emulate Prue in almost everything I did, so it would make sense that it unconsciously carried over into that. I still wish I could have given Paige the welcome she deserved, though." Phoebe smiled at her.

            "You did, in a way though. Just indirectly." Piper looked at her quizzically. 

            "Huh? What do you mean?"

            "Well, if Prue was your model of how to be the oldest, who do you think my model was for how to be the middle child? It's partially how I developed my theory…the way I tried to act toward Paige was the way you acted toward me when I came back. So it made sense that you would be acting like Prue. Also, I thought that your actions seemed familiar right away, but I didn't want to say anything. It sounds too much like I'm accusing Prue of being a bad sister, which I am in no way doing. But now that she's here to defend herself, I thought it might be okay to bring up." Piper turned to Prue.

            "You really agree with all of this?" Prue nodded. "Yeah. I noticed it too, up there. I wished that I could tell you to stop trying so hard to be me, and just be yourself. But you had to figure that one out on your own."

            "It took you coming back though, for me to completely be myself again."

            "Yeah," Prue sighed, "I know." Piper turned to look at Paige, and squeezed her hand. 

            "Well," she said, "whether or not all of this is true, I'm still sorry for the way I treated you. I'm just glad that you had Phoebe be there for you, and be such a good sister to you."

            "Hey," Phoebe said smiling, "I had the best of teachers."


	16. A Twist

A/N: Well, I think that many of you are going to like this chapter…it is something that I have received a lot of reviews about. Hope you enjoy it…this is the last chapter of the story. (Hey, wasn't Trust 16 chapters too? Hmmm…I wonder if I have some weird fixation with the number 16. I think that Believe in Me will be longer though.) I should be starting the sequel soon, although I kinda feel like I should finish the prequel first. Problem is, that could take awhile since I have to regain everything…Anyways, tell me what you think.

Charmed Writer: Thank you so much for another great review…I really should be resisting some of those cookies, but I really have no self-restraint. Sigh. I'm glad you thought the theory was good and creative…and thank you for saying that you think I am creative! That means sooooo much to me…I hope that you like this chapter too!

Cole rubbed his head as he sat in his apartment. He was having memory flashes again, flashes of things he had done when he was the source. After Piper and turned Cole into a human again, he had lost most of his memories about what he had done as a demon. Frankly, Cole thought it was for the best. He didn't think that he would be able to live knowing just what he had done. But at the same time, something was bothering him. He knew he had killed Leo, he remembered that much. But something about Leo's death was bothering him, some little detail that he couldn't remember. Something important, he thought. Something that he needed to tell Piper…

Leo struggled against the bonds that held him to the post, even though he knew it was futile. He had been tied up in this filthy chamber in the underworld for months now, and he had never been able to free himself. Months. Months without seeing Piper, without knowing if she was alright, without knowing about his beautiful baby girl that must have been born by now…and there was no one around to tell him about these things. Cole had stopped coming months ago, almost as soon as the whole thing started. Sighing, Leo remembered the day that he had been brought down here, just after Paige and Phoebe learned the truth about Cole.

Flashback

            Leo sighed as he orbed out of the apartment. He hated leaving Piper alone like that, while she was sleeping, but he really needed to go talk to Paige and Phoebe. Piper needed them, and maybe, now that they knew the truth about Cole, they would be able to give her the comfort he needed. Suddenly, Leo felt something jerk him mid-orb, pulling him off the course he was supposed to go to. As the agonizing pull wrenched him away, Leo blacked out, losing himself to the darkness. 

            When he awoke, he was tied to the infernal pole, which he could not orb away from. Cole was standing in front of him, smirking.

            "Hello, Leo. Did you enjoy your little trip?" Leo glared at him.

            "What do you want with me?" He declared angrily.

            "What do you think? I want to use you to screw with your wife's mind. She made me angry when she prevented me from killing Phoebe…really angry. And now she needs to pay. So, I have devised a little plan. Over in that room," Cole said, while gesturing towards another chamber, "is an exact clone of you. He has all of your memories, your feelings, you beliefs…he pretty much is you. In fact, that is who he thinks he is. He has no idea he is just a clone. When he wakes up, I am going to 'carelessly,' let him 'escape.' He will return to Piper, who should still be asleep. In a few hours, I will go back to that apartment, and kill the clone. Piper, thinking that it is you, will be devastated. It should certainly pay her back for ruining my lovely plans…and if, after all that, I decided that it is not enough, maybe I will kill her too." Cole chuckled. "It really is the perfect plan, you see. I thought about just killing you, and not bothering with the whole clone thing but…I thought that it might be more fun to torture you, while still leaving Piper convinced that you are dead. And if I do end up wanting to kill you, I can always do that later…maybe I could even put Piper through the torture of your death twice!" Leo tore at the bindings he was in, desperate to get out. 

            "You wouldn't dare." He whispered. Cole raised his eyebrows. 

            "Oh wouldn't I? You obviously don't know me very well…you think of me too much as the Cole that you used to know. But I've conquered him, so now, I can do anything I want to. And I want to do this." With those words, Cole flamed out.

Real Time

            That was the last that Leo had seen of Cole, or anyone else for that matter. He wondered if something had gone wrong with the demon's plan. Maybe Piper managed to vanquish him, and was now living happily ever after with the other demon. Or maybe Cole had succeeded with his plan, and Piper truly thought he was dead. It would have devastated her. Leo shuddered. At least he had a reason to believe that she was alive. It was all that kept him going, now. If Cole had succeeded, then Piper would have no such beliefs about him. And it would hurt her. It would hurt her so much, and there was nothing Leo could do to save her from that hurt. All he could do was sit here. And wait.


End file.
